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Whitehall Media, the UK’s market-leading business-to-business multi-platform media group is pleased to confirm the date and venue of its fourth Public Sector Enterprise ICT and government ICT strategy Conference. The event will be held at the Hotel Russell, London on 8 November, 2012, and promises to be the most powerful strategic government ICT event of the year. The Conference and Exhibition event will gather together some of the UK’s most influential speakers who drive and determine policy for the most influential sectors within government.

Information and communications technology (ICT) is critical for the effective operation of government and for the delivery of the vital services it provides for both its citizens and businesses. However, the financial crisis has meant that the government has had to change its focus in delivering these public services. Through its ICT Strategy is now aiming to deliver better public services at a reduced cost. It maintains that public sector savings are critical in order to reduce the structural deficit and continue to fund front-line services. The government believes efficient ICT strategies will not only produce these necessary savings, but also help to increase public sector productivity and efficiency by enabling the building of a common infrastructure, underpinned by a set of common standards. The government has worked over the course of the last year to accelerate the implementation of the strategy in order to drive down costs whilst improving capabilities.

IT operational efficiency is a financial imperative. Optimizing the IT infrastructure improves operational efficiency by reducing costs, improving agility, and maximizing performance. The transition to the Public Services Network, which forms an integral part of the coalition government’s ICT strategy, is already well underway. The government has calculated that by 2014, Britain’s public sector could be saving £130 million or more each year through both reform and efficiency savings. Although only one year into this programme of reform, the implementation of the strategy has already resulted in the awarding of the first public service connectivity framework agreements to 12 enterprises , offered more opportunities for SMEs, particularly on the G Cloud framework, produced savings of £159.6 million on ICT contracts during financial year 2011-12, brought about dramatic improvements in the speed and ease of ICT procurement, reduced the size and complexity of ICT projects, and succeeded in making Government ICT more open and accountable to the people and organisations that use public services.

Public Sector Enterprise ICT 2012 is a business strategy conference that will address all of the important issues affecting government ICT procurement and delivery. It will be attended by key Public Sector decision-makers drawn from across the UK, and will focus on the practical aspects of the effective delivery of the government’s ICT strategy and the Strategic Implementation Plan. It will also discuss the technology and business aspects of maximising efficiency and achieving Value for Money. It will reach out to embrace the Efficiency and Reform agenda in the context of delivering best practice in ICT.

The focus of this year’s event will be the government’s drive to deliver £1.4 billion of savings in the next 4 years and the delivery of better and more-effective digital public services. The conference will also be a major platform for a discussion of the G-Cloud Store which forms part of the wider government Cloud programme. The conference aims to bring together the users and suppliers of solutions and technology to discuss business and government initiatives, the latest trends and developments, large scale deployments, partnerships & alliances, developing standards, new applications, new business opportunities and future direction.

Public Sector Enterprise ICT 2012 is a non-technical event. It focuses instead on the sharing of best practice and innovation in Business and IT across Local Authorities, NHS Trusts, Central Government, and the Defence, Justice and Education sectors. With up to 500 delegates attending, Public Sector Enterprise ICT 2012 promises to be the must-attend conference of the Government Calendar. As ever, Whitehall Media looks forward to welcoming all colleagues in the industry who share an interest in improving efficiency and innovating joined-up working in the UK.